I have been active in
historical reenactment for years and one of the characters I do is a little
known professional bison hunter named Jonah William Campbell. Campbell began in the profession during the years just after
the Civil War and was present at the Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874. Oddly, he
made his greatest income from the trade running a bison bone collecting operation
from 1874 until 1881. The great bison herd extermination took place from
roughly just after the Civil War and was over by 1886.

It is important to remember,
however, that when we talk about this period of U.S. Old West history the bison
extermination should be divided into two major segments. American bison herds
were divided into different populations. The Southern Herd ranged throughout
the Southwest and extended its northern range into the southern part of present
day Nebraska. It migrated south into Texas in the winter and worked its way north in the early
spring. The Northern Herd grazed and migrated along the eastern slope of the
Rocky Mountains out into the plains of the Dakotas and Nebraska. These herds were massive and their ranges did not
overlap because of the pressure they put on local resources.

The Southern Herd was
exterminated first because it was much larger than the Northern Herd, railroad
access was earlier, the winter climate was less oppressive and most settlement
took place in Kansas before advancing into the North. Essentially, the
Southern Herd was annihilated by 1875 and it was no longer feasible to run the
big buffalo hunting operations after 1874. Campbell was most active during this period.

Of more interest to
historical gun enthusiasts is the fact that Campbell did not prefer the legendary Sharps rifle. He began
with a muzzle-loading Springfield musket-rifle, but his first cartridge rifle was a Trapdoor Springfield
or “needle gun” like Bill Cody’s. As conditions changed and he saw a need for a
long range, big bore rifle he chose a Remington Rolling Block.

I chose a very simple Pedersoli (www.davide-pedersoli.com) Rolling Block replica design as is marketed by Traditions as my
example of Campbell’s rifle. The rifle is in .45-70 caliber with a 30”
octagonal barrel with fixed dovetail front and rear sights. It has a brass
trigger guard, butt plate and fore stock retaining ring. The receiver is color casehardened.
The rifle is 46.7” in overall length and weighs 11.67 lbs. The question is,
just how historically accurate is it?

I really know very little
about Campbell’s Rolling Block other than the notation that he
considered it “better put together” than the Sharps. He also noted that
opinions of which rifle was superior, the Sharps or Remington, was “pretty much
evenly divided” among professional bison hunters. My problem as a historical
researcher has always been that while I have found numerous specimens of old
time buffalo rifles, such as muzzle-loading Plains rifles, Springfield muskets, Spencer conversions, Trapdoor Springfields,
or even Sharps models, I have found few Remingtons that can be documented as
authentic bison hunter examples.

The Remingtons that can be
documented with the trade are relatively austere models with very few frills. They
have little in common with the famous Creedmoor models of the East. They are
comparatively lightweight with few adornments and Spartan sights. Many
cartridge rifles of that era weighed from fourteen to sixteen pounds with heavy
bull barrels. I have not found any Remingtons configured that way that I can
tie to the Southern Herd period.

I believe that the reasons
are complex and relate to the types of people who engaged in the bison hunting
profession and the timing of the Southern herd’s extermination. There were many
people who hunted bison for money from 1870 – 1875 on the plains of Southwestern Kansas before that herd was wiped from the face of the
earth. Very few of them were full-time professionals. Many were simply farmers,
tradesmen and day wageworkers who earned some extra cash during the winter
months by shooting a few bison as the herd migrated north across the Arkansas River. These men did not have much invested in any
equipment and were unwilling to purchase expensive rifles designed specifically
for long range shooting. They got by just fine in the early years with big bore
muzzleloaders, Civil War surplus Springfield muskets and Trapdoor Springfields.

I am convinced that Trapdoor
Springfields were the most numerous cartridge rifles used during that period. They
were easy to find, relatively inexpensive and they used commonly available
military ammunition. The ammunition, in fact, was literally given away by the
military to anyone choosing to call himself a bison hunter. The vast majority
of bison taken during this period were shot with the .50-70 cartridge. The
.45-70 was not adopted by the military until 1873, so surplus ammunition would
not have been commonly available. Campbell and others would take the free
ammunition and break it down, melt the lead and use the powder to work up their
own handloads for their rifles.

As Campbell states in his
journal, there were so many bison migrating north in the early years that a
shooter could take a position on the Cimarron Bluffs (several miles west of
Dodge City) in early March as the herd migrated north across the Arkansas River
and kill all the animals he wanted for days on end without changing camps. It
didn’t’ take much shooting or hunting skill to kill all the bison a man could
skin and market.

As the herd thinned, casual bison
hunter numbers dwindled. Generally, what was left were the hard core few who
ran organized camps complete with skinners, bundlers, loaders and had hide
wagons making regular trips into the Dodge City market. These men were the professionals who more
likely to purchase expensive Sharps and Remington rifles. Very few of these professional
hunters spent money for heavily adorned rifles. The reason is simple. The
rifles were tools that were used up and eventually bartered away. Most of the
fancy Sharps bison rifles left today were held in hands other than those of
professional hunters.

The largest number of
authentic bison rifles I know of came from an old whorehouse
auction in Wichita in the early 1950’s. The business had been in operation
since the late 19th century. The buffalo rifles were found stacked
in a closet. Chances are they were bartered for an evening’s entertainment and
the bordello owner never got around to selling them. I have no documentation of
what configurations and styles of rifles there were, except that many of them
were Sharps models.

There is one old Remington
Rolling Block from the bison hide trade era in the basement of Dodge City’s Boot Hill Museum. Most of these rifles came from local family
donations, as the museum itself has never spent great sums putting together its
collection. I found the Remington when I was looking through their non-display collection
for some photography specimens.

It is approximately .40
caliber and weighs around nine pounds. The forearm is thin and the butt stock
is unadorned with a straight wrist. The butt stock is cracked in the wrist. The
wood is nearly black from age and oiling. The metalwork is lightly pitted, but
generally in good shape. The sights are dovetailed fixed front blade and rear
"V." As is common of that era, the front blade sight has been filed down almost
to the barrel. This was done to raise the point of impact for precise long range shooting. The round barrel is around 30” long and not
particularly heavy. There is no evidence that the rifle ever had telescopic,
Vernier, or receiver sights. It is very plain with no checkering or adornment.

If you watch Quigley and the
other Sharps shooters of the cinema, you will notice that they always have a
set of Vernier tang mounted sights at hand to make fantastic long range shots. Josey
Wales even had a fine brass scope for long range rope cutting and Missouri boat rides. In fact, not a single relic in the Boot Hill Museum has such sights and I have yet to find a period photo showing a set
of Vernier tang mounted sights on a bison rifle of the Southern Herd period. Nearly
all photos show a set of barrel mounted, military style ladder sights such as
are commonly placed on less expensive modern Italian Sharps replicas.

I am not claiming that such
rifle configurations didn’t exist. I am pointing out that they were not common among
professionals in the early 1870’s. The Vernier sight and heavy, scoped target
rifles were much more common in the 1880’s when the Northern Herd was being
harvested. Examples of those types of bison rifles are much more commonly
encountered in Montana and Wyoming museums.

The Traditions Pedersoli
Rolling Block replica has some features that are not exactly representative of
the Southern Herd era. Most noticeable are the brass fixtures. I have not
personally seen an original Remington with brass fixtures. I have seen a number
of other period rifles with pewter forearm caps, brass decorative inserts and
brass butt plates. I have not seen a Remington with a brass butt plate. I did
see a Native American owned Remington Rolling Block carbine with numerous brass
tacks in the butt stock. The Remington design was much more modern and advanced
than the Sharps models. While Sharps ended manufacturing in the mid-1880’s, the
Remington design continued well into the 20th Century.

Second is the case hardened
receiver finish. I have not seen a case hardened finish on any rifle of the
Southern Herd era. Even the Sharps rifles are of blued steel. It may be that
such a finish has long since worn away on some of these rifles. More likely is
that it was a seldom seen, special order feature.

The next most noticeable
trait of the replica is that the receiver is slightly more robust than the
original Remington. I am told that this is because the replica is forged from a
mold casting of an original Remington and is therefore of slightly thicker
dimensions. This is minor, but it does change the feel and heft of the
reproduction rifle. A Remington replica is just a bit more awkward feeling than
the original.

The butt stock and forearm
stocks of the Pedersoli Rolling Block are not bad and come very close to the
originals that I have seen. The configuration of the butt plate shape is very accurate,
as I have seen no Remingtons with the severe moon cut of many period rifle butt
plates.

Finally, the heavy octagon
barrel, while I have not seen it on an original Remington, is representative of
many period rifles. There are several conversion rifles made from war surplus
Spencer carbines. They were converted into big bore single shots and relied on
heavy barrels to increase long range accuracy. Many of these rifles did not
even have forearms, as they were designed to be fired from shooting (crossed)
sticks. A heavy octagon barrel was also a common Sharps option.

The vast majority of
Remingtons were being made at this time to fill overseas military contracts
(primarily in .43 Spanish and .43 Egyptian calibers) and the factory ran 24/7
for many years. Early Old West period Remington Rolling Blocks were generally
sporter class rifles, but they could be special ordered in a number of
configurations. A heavy barrel option was available. The bulk of the Eastern Creedmoor style Remingtons were manufactured after the Southern
Herd’s extermination. In all probability, a hunter of that time would have been
more likely to encounter a Remington Rolling Block that looked more like the
Basic or Sporting Pedersoli Rolling Block replica than a Creedmoor style long
range rifle such as Pedersoli’s John Bodine or Creedmoor #2 models.

As a representative rifle
design of the early 1870’s, in spite of the brass adornments, the Pedersoli
Rolling Block is not bad. It represents a very simple yet robust rifle with
minimal sights, heavy barrel and few adornments. I personally believe that the
Pedersoli model S.852 Rolling Block Target Steel Standard (see photo at top of article) is more
representative of what Remingtons of this period looked like. Dixie Gun Works sold a Pedersoli Remington Rolling Block .45-70
Buffalo Rifle Model #1 (#CRO408) that is extremely accurate in appearance.